Ronnie O’Sullivan’s found himself interrupted when a sleeping fan had to be removed at the 2017 World Snooker Championship.
Leading Gary Wilson 5-4 in his first-round match at the Crucible, the Rocket was about to step up to the table when he and referee Brendan Moore turned in surprise after hearing a noise in the crowd.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is a seven-time champion at the CrucibleCredit: Getty
The culprit was quickly identified as a spectator who appeared to have fallen asleep, with the match official wasting no time in giving him his marching orders.
Moore could be heard pausing proceedings as he called for security to eject the man from the venue.
Gesturing at the crowd, the referee ordered: “Excuse me, hang on a second Ronnie, come down. I need this guy out, he needs to go.”
He then hurried the security guard over to the fan, pointing at him, before saying: “Martin, out. This one here. Yeah, he needs to go.
Snooker star involved in bizarre moment with fan that forced referee to intervene
Ronnie O’Sullivan hailed for ‘greatest bit of sportsmanship ever’ in bizarre incident
“Straight out.”
While the exact reason for the spectator’s brief disturbance was unclear, commentator John Virgo suggested the member of the crowd had fallen ill, who looked to be dozing off.
He said: “There’s a slight problem with someone in the audience. Looks as though he’s not too well.”
Meanwhile, Moore continued to insist on the fan being ejected, as he carried on: “Yeah, you need to go please sir.
This was certainly a match worth staying awake for, with O’Sullivan producing an impressive performance to fight past competition debutant Wilson.
O’Sullivan and referee Brendan Moore were stopped in their tracks after hearing a disturbance in the crowd.
